India has admitted in a statement that the recent missile fired into Pakistan was “accidental”. The South Asian nuclear state pinned the blame on a “technical malfunction” during routine maintenance.
To clarify, on March 9, the PAF Air Defence Operation System detected a high-speed flying object inside the Indian territory. The object was picked up at 18:43 hours which after remaining airborne, suddenly maneuvered from its initial course and intruded into the Pakistani territory. DG ISPR revealed a statement and described it as “a supersonic flying object”.
While there was no loss of life, the object did cause damage to civilian property. Furthermore, Pakistan summoned the Charge d’Affaires (Cd’A) of India to convey Pakistan’s strong protest over the unprovoked violation of its airspace. Additionally, Pakistan warned the Indian government of the unpleasant consequences of such negligence.
Read more: Pakistan warns India after “supersonic missile” violates air space
India’s statement
Soon after, India released its own statement. India said on Friday it accidentally fired a missile into Pakistan because of a “technical malfunction” during routine maintenance.
“On 9 March 2022, in the course of routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile,” the statement said.
“Government of India has taken a serious view and ordered a high-level cost of enquiry,” it added.
Moreover, India also said that it deeply regretted the incident. However, it is also a relief that there were no casualties.
https://twitter.com/hsawan/status/1502285224176242688?s=20&t=nCBBwyQGW8WNJQXb2t_8ng
NSA Moeed Yusuf slams India
Reacting to the statement, Pakistan’s National Security Advisor (NSA) Moeed Yusuf heavily slammed India on Twitter. In a series of tweets, NSA Yusuf questioned India’s ability to handle such “sensitive technology”.
NSA Moeed Yusuf also called the Indian authorities irresponsible for taking more than two days to accept responsibility for the missile launched due to technical malfunction.
“It is also highly irresponsible of Indian authorities not to have informed Pakistan immediately that an inadvertent launch of a cruise missile had taken place,” the NSA tweeted.
It is hard to believe anything this Indian government says. Therefore, the real circumstances surrounding this incident must also be investigated to ascertain if this was an inadvertent launch or something more intentional.
— Moeed W. Yusuf (@YusufMoeed) March 11, 2022
The NSA further noted that in a nuclear environment, such callousness and ineptitude raises questions about the safety and security of Indian weapons systems. He also recalled incidents of uranium thefts in India.
Read more: Two Indians arrested in alleged uranium smuggling
NSA Moeed Yusuf also called for an investigation into the “real circumstances surrounding” the March 9 incident “to ascertain if this was an inadvertent launch or something more intentional” as “it is hard to believe anything this Indian government says.”
Important to note, the NSA has voiced the wider public opinion of Pakistan regarding the incident. Ever since India released its statement, Pakistanis have flocked to Twitter to voice concerns over India’s handling of nuclear weapons.